Pittsburgh Penguins, University of Pittsburgh Plan for Sports Complex in Cranberry

Adriana Pop, Associate Editor The Pittsburgh Penguins along with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) are planning a joint practice rink and sports medicine complex in Cranberry. According to the patch.com, the proposed 150,000-square-foot complex would be located in the Summit of Cranberry Woods business park off Route 228, near Hilton Garden Inn. Penguins [...]

Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

The Pittsburgh Penguins along with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) are planning a joint practice rink and sports medicine complex in Cranberry.

According to the patch.com, the proposed 150,000-square-foot complex would be located in the Summit of Cranberry Woods business park off Route 228, near Hilton Garden Inn. Penguins spokesman Tom McMillan told the newspaper that the facility would resemble the UPMC sports performance complex on Pittsburgh’s South Side, which includes sports medicine, practice and training facilities.

The Penguins plan to use the new rink when ice is not be available at the Consol Energy Center. The facility would also be open to the public for recreational skating and youth hockey programs such as Pittsburgh Penguins Elite.

UPMC is in the preliminary stages of buying the land from developer Don Rodgers and will need to seek approval for its plans from the township, the newspaper reports. UPMC spokeswoman Susan Manko said developers hoped to have the facility open by the summer of 2014.

In other news, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that a tax credit for the Shell Oil Co. ethane cracker planned for Beaver County would soon become available.

Legislators have approved an unlimited tax credit to encourage petrochemical companies to establish their presence in Pennsylvania. In order to qualify, companies need to invest a minimum $1 million in the plant and create at least 2,500 jobs. The measure was signed into law as part of tax code legislation for the 2012-2013 budget and will not take effect until 2017.

In March, Shell Chemical LP signed a land option agreement with Horsehead Corp. to evaluate a site in Beaver County, where it could build a multibillion-dollar petrochemical complex that would process gas locally produced from the Marcellus Shale in Appalachia. A decision could be reached in 18 to 24 months.